title: The benefits of early decompression in cervical spinal cord injury.
abstract: Decompression and stabilization have been shown to improve neurologic outcome in cases of cervical spine trauma with proven compression of the spinal cord. This paper reviews experimental and clinical research to clarify the benefits of early surgery for cervical spinal cord injury. The direct clinical benefit of early surgery is a theoretic improvement in neurologic recovery over that of delayed surgery. Additional benefits of early surgery include the clinical advantages of a decreased length of hospitalization and its associated complications and a decreased time to rehabilitation and mobilization. Proper, timely surgical intervention can better the physiologic environment so as to allow for maximum neurologic improvement.
authors.affiliation: Jefferson Medical College, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
authors.forename: J F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Rosenfeld
authors.forename: A R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Vaccaro
authors.forename: T J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Albert
authors.forename: G R
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: Klein
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Cotler
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D019299:Decompression, Surgical / Q000379:methods*; D004285:Dogs; D006801:Humans; D015601:Injury Severity Score; D007902:Length of Stay; D008297:Male; D009460:Neurologic Examination; D013117:Spinal Cord Compression / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000601:surgery; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000601:surgery*; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome